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subjectComputers And Society
authorWired
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An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.


Snowden's 'sexy Margaret Thatcher' Password Isn't So Secure
From ACM Opinion

Snowden's 'sexy Margaret Thatcher' Password Isn't So Secure

Edward Snowden appears to have a thing for the late British conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher. And his obsession may even be clouding his famously paranoid...

Mlb Is Supercharging Its Stats System with Radar and AI
From ACM News

Mlb Is Supercharging Its Stats System with Radar and AI

For all the Brad Pitt-fueled hype, sabermetric analysis is still only as good as the systems that capture data from the field—who hit what to whom.

See How Diseases Spread in These Mesmerizing Graphics
From ACM News

See How Diseases Spread in These Mesmerizing Graphics

You're an H1N1 influenza virus—swine flu—just hanging out in Hanoi, Vietnam. But now it's time to spread and infect.

This Air Force Tech Could've Averted the Germanwings Crash
From ACM News

This Air Force Tech Could've Averted the Germanwings Crash

An old aviators' joke goes like this: In the future, airline cockpit crews will consist of one pilot and a dog. The pilot is there to feed the dog, the dog is there...

So, Arkansas Is Leading the Learn to Code Movement
From ACM TechNews

So, Arkansas Is Leading the Learn to Code Movement

Arkansas took the lead in pushing computer science in schools last month when it passed a law requiring all public and charter schools to offer computer science...

Voice Control Will Force an Overhaul of the Whole Internet
From ACM News

Voice Control Will Force an Overhaul of the Whole Internet

Jason Mars built his own Siri and then he gave it away.

Stealing Data from Computers ­sing Heat
From ACM News

Stealing Data from Computers ­sing Heat

Air-gapped systems, which are isolated from the Internet and are not connected to other systems that are connected to the Internet, are used in situations that...

How to Sabotage Encryption Software (and Not Get Caught)
From ACM News

How to Sabotage Encryption Software (and Not Get Caught)

In the field of cryptography, a secretly planted "backdoor" that allows eavesdropping on communications is usually a subject of paranoia and dread.

Surprise! America Already Has a Manhattan Project For Developing Cyber Attacks
From ACM News

Surprise! America Already Has a Manhattan Project For Developing Cyber Attacks

"What we really need is a Manhattan Project for cybersecurity." It's a sentiment that swells up every few years in the wake of some huge computer intrusion—most...

Spies Can Track You Just By Watching Your Phone's Power ­se
From ACM News

Spies Can Track You Just By Watching Your Phone's Power ­se

Smartphone users might balk at letting a random app like Candy Crush or Shazam track their every move via GPS. But researchers have found that Android phones reveal...

A Crypto Trick That Makes Software Nearly Impossible to Reverse-Engineer
From ACM News

A Crypto Trick That Makes Software Nearly Impossible to Reverse-Engineer

Software reverse engineering, the art of pulling programs apart to figure out how they work, is what makes it possible for sophisticated hackers to scour code for...

DARPA Is Developing a Search Engine For the Dark Web
From ACM TechNews

DARPA Is Developing a Search Engine For the Dark Web

Memex is a search engine under development that is being designed to access the Dark Web to help law enforcement track illegal activity. 

DARPA Is Developing a Search Engine For the Dark Web
From ACM News

DARPA Is Developing a Search Engine For the Dark Web

A new search engine being developed by Darpa aims to shine a light on the dark web and uncover patterns and relationships in online data to help law enforcement...

Nsa Acknowledges What We All Feared: Iran Learns From Us Cyberattacks
From ACM News

Nsa Acknowledges What We All Feared: Iran Learns From Us Cyberattacks

After the Stuxnet digital weapon was discovered on machines in Iran in 2010, many security researchers warned that US adversaries would learn from this and other...

AI Won't End the World, But It Might Take Your Job
From ACM News

AI Won't End the World, But It Might Take Your Job

There's been a lot of fear about the future of artificial intelligence.

How the Home Telephone Sparked the ­ser-Centered Design Revolution
From ACM Opinion

How the Home Telephone Sparked the ­ser-Centered Design Revolution

Have you ever thought about why doorknobs are positioned at around two-fifths of the door's height, instead of right in the middle? Or why a washing machine is...

Why the Silk Road Trial Matters
From ACM Opinion

Why the Silk Road Trial Matters

Ross Ulbricht is finally getting his day in court, 15 months after plainclothes FBI agents grabbed him in the science fiction section of a San Francisco library...

The Leap Second Is About to Rattle the Internet. But There's a Plot to Kill It
From ACM News

The Leap Second Is About to Rattle the Internet. But There's a Plot to Kill It

The Qantas Airways computers started crashing just after midnight.

A Cyberattack Has Caused Confirmed Physical Damage For the Second Time Ever
From ACM News

A Cyberattack Has Caused Confirmed Physical Damage For the Second Time Ever

Amid all the noise the Sony hack generated over the holidays, a far more troubling cyber attack was largely lost in the chaos. Unless you follow security news closely...

The Space Missions and Events We're Most Looking Forward to in 2015
From ACM News

The Space Missions and Events We're Most Looking Forward to in 2015

This year will be another exciting one for space exploration.
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